Andrew MacDonald

The Islanders are having themselves a season like no other in recent memory. They sit atop the division with a 3 point cushion. They are within a point of the Conference lead and don't look to be slowing down at all. With all of this coming together at the right time, their trade deadline mentality could be completely different than what we're used to.

After the last two overtime losses for the Flyers left them with frustrations in the skills competition, they were looking at a potential third straight shootout. But Claude Giroux scored 2 minutes, 49 seconds into overtime, completing a comeback 6-5 win.

It was the first win of the season for the Flyers. They avoided going winless in the first five games of the season for just the third time in franchise history with the win.

There is no way around describing what this 2014-15 Philadelphia Flyers team is. You can say they're a team in transition.

The word transition is not something that owners like to use or that fans like to hear. But it truly is the perfect way to explain this Flyers team.

It is not shocking at all either that the Flyers would end up this way. Ron Hextall was promoted to general just this spring, so he himself is still trying to make the team his own. He was left tied up with a few mistakes made by previous GM Paul Holmgren, and has been unable to reverse moves that were made prior to his promotion.

The future for the defense of the Philadelphia Flyers is extremely bright.

Players such as Samuel Morin and Robert Hagg, along with Shayne Gostisbehere are not far from being NHL ready. And the expectations are very high for when they are ready.

Until then, the Flyers have a bit of an issue on the back end. Veteran defenseman Kimmo Timonen’s future in professional hockey is in question as he is out indefinitely due to blood clots in his lungs and right calf. The loss of Timonen will likely expose some of the issues that the Flyers have on the blue line.

Although the New York Islanders missed the playoffs this season, many players that were dressed for the team and traded made significant contributions to their new team's post-season run to the Cup (Photo credit: Michael Cummo Photography/Flickr).

By virtue of finishing third place in the Metropolitan Division, the Flyers have drawn the Rangers in the first round of the playoffs. The Flyers and Rangers split their season series, with both teams winning twice on home ice.

The New York Islanders have ended their 2014 season by finishing 26th in the league, good enough for the fifth overall pick in this year's draft lottery and a 34-37-11 record.

At this time last year, the Isles were 24-17-7, a record that was good enough to place them eighth in the Eastern Conference and allow them to play the Pittsburgh Penguins in a first round playoff series match-up.

Clearly, this was not the direction that the Islanders and their fan-base expected them to travel this year.